Because of Grace.
Chapter one: Dreams
"Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are…" Sam woke up slightly out of breath, she wiped away a few beads of sweat off of her forehead. It was the third time in a row she had that dream. About Grace singing on the Prometheus. Sam caught her breath and sat up, she glanced at her alarm clock, it was only five o'clock, she didn't have to be at work until six-thirty.
She rubbed her head and sighed, she swung her legs over her bed and slipped her feet into her slippers. The question that had been in her mind for days came back to her. Who was Grace? Was she really a cloud? Or was she something else? She shook the thought away and headed into the bathroom. She turned on the faucet and splashed some water on her face. She sighed and looked into the mirror.
She quickly took a shower and got dressed, she combed her short blond hair out of her blue eyes. She smiled slightly into the mirror. She made herself breakfast then slipped on her shoes and grabbed her purse. She left her house feeling a little better then she had when she had woken up. But the question stuck in her mind.
She drove to the nearest star bucks before she headed to work. Sam sipped her coffee as she walked down the halls, she hurried into her lab, she had completely forgotten all about the briefing that was going to start in five minutes, she grabbed her folder and abandoned her coffee, she hurried to the briefing room to find Daniel, General Hammond and Colonel O'Neill there.
"Sorry I'm late…" she said, she sat down and folded her hands. "Okay…"
Daniel stood up and turned on the monitor. "Okay, planet P5X-595…"
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Sam walked out of the briefing room and sighed, she was hot, usually she didn't mind sitting in a room for a couple of hours, but she was so tired right now, she hadn't gotten much sleep in the last few days. She rubbed her forehead and sighed.
"Carter," Jack said as held her shoulder. "Are you okay? You look-"
"I'm fine Colonel, just a bit tired, that's all." She gave him her best reassuring smile. "I'll see you later Colonel."
"Carter, when's the last time you ate?" Jack asked, he didn't know exactly what happened on the Prometheus. But ever since that day she had been acting weird, a little jumpy, not to mention she tried her best to stay away from him.
"I'm fine sir!" she said a little to loudly. "I'm sorry…" she bit her tongue; she walked quickly down the hall and disappeared around the corner. She slapped her forehead, what was wrong with her? Just because her feelings for Jack were growing bigger didn't mean that she shouldn't talk to him. But she didn't want to grow any closer, she wanted to grow as far as possible. It was against regulations.
She walked into her lab and rubbed her forehead again. Damn headaches! She sighed and turned on her laptop, but she couldn't concentrate on her work. Her mind kept wondering off to something else. Grace.
"Sam?" a voice called from behind her. She jumped slightly and turned to see Janet walking towards her. "Are you okay? Colonel O'Neill said-"
"I'm fine." Sam answered sitting up straight. "I just-"
"He didn't describe you as fine, what's wrong?" Janet asked, she sat down on the edge of the desk.
"Nothing!" Sam insisted.
"Sam…" she said softly. "Something's going on, I can tell, you haven't been yourself since the Prometheus. What's going on?"
Sam sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I'm just a bit tired, okay?"
"No, it's not okay, why are you tired?" Janet folded her hands and placed them in her lap.
"I'm just having a hard time getting to sleep, and staying asleep." She said.
"Why?"
Sam rubbed her forehead again. "I've been having some dreams." She rolled her eyes. "It's nothing."
"Sam, I'm responsible for the welfare of this entire base, if you're not feeling well, or suddenly get very cranky and don't want to talk to people, I should find out what's wrong. Now what is the dream about?"
Sam sighed. "Grace." She muttered. "Grace from the Prometheus."
Janet nodded slowly. "Okay… Sam, what happened on the Prometheus? I know you said you had hallucinations… what happened between you and Colonel O'Neill?"
"Nothin-"
"Sam! That's not true, you've been ignoring him ever since you walked out of that infirmary!" Janet bit her lip. "I want to help… as a friend."
Sam looked up at her, a tear escaped her eye. "I can't take this anymore." She said holding back a sob. "I- I don't know what to do!"
"About what?" she asked.
"Jack." Sam answered. "Colonel O'Neill."
"What happened?" Janet asked.
Sam thought back…
"What if I quit the Air Force? Would that change anything would that change anything? Or is that just an excuse?"
"I would never ask you to give up your career." Jack said.
"Because you don't feel anything for me?" Sam asked.
"Carter…"
"I'd let you go right now if I knew." Sam said quickly.
"That easy?" Jack asked with a small smile.
"I didn't say it would be easy." She replied.
"Then what's stopping you if you really want to know?"
"I'm trying." Sam said.
"Maybe it's not me that's the problem here." He said. "Let's face it, I'm not that complex."
"Me?"
"Sam. I'm a safe bet." He said with a smile.
"As long as I'm thinking about you, setting my sights on what I think is unobtainable, there's no chance of being hurt by someone else." She said.
"Jacob was right, you deserve more. I will always be there for you, no matter what. Believe me." Jack said.
"So, what now?"
"Go save your ass."
"One last thing…" she said, she imagined her kissing him. What was she thinking? "Never mind…"
"Wow." Janet said, taken back. "I- wow."
Sam nodded. "I know, I was going to talk to him, but… I couldn't. I was scared, what if he didn't have the feelings that I had for him? I don't think I could have handled it, so I decided it was better to stay away."
Janet shook her head. "I'm sorry Sam, I can't imagine what you're going through… and I thought I had it bad with my EX."
Sam smiled slightly. "Yeah, well, it's never going to work."
"Sam, go home, try to get some rest, please." Janet said.
"Janet, I'm fine, really, I just need to get-"
"Some rest." Janet interrupted. "Go home. Doctors orders."
Sam sighed. "Janet-"
"Ahh!" She held up her hand. "You're not going to talk me out of it."
"Fine." Sam said, she stood up. "I'll see you later… and please, keep what I said to yourself."
Janet nodded. "I will." She smiled. "Bye."
"Yeah… bye." She walked out of the room and headed out of the SGC.
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The next morning…
Sam woke sweaty and out of breath, for the fifth day in a row. She sighed and sat up, she hated that dream, it drove her crazy! Who was the little girl, Grace? She shook her head, why was she letting that dream get to her? She quickly got ready for work. Twenty minutes later, she arrived at the SGC. She stepped out of her car and locked it. She walked into the SGC and immediately bumped into Janet, who seemed to be waiting for her.
"How are you?" Janet asked as she walked on the side of her.
"Fine Janet." Sam answered.
"Did you have that dream again?" She asked.
"Nope." Sam lied. "Janet…-"
"I'm just worried about you Sam."
"I'll be fine." Sam assured her. "Okay?"
"Okay…" Janet said. "I'll see you later!" she walked away.
Sam sighed and walked into her lab.
----
The girl carefully snuck behind a car and gave a sigh of relief. She made it halfway. She peeked through the window and spotted a guard about thirty feet away from her. She held her breath and crawled to a closer car. It was only about ten feet away… She looked behind her to make sure the coast was clear, she let out a breath and crawled closer.
"HEY!" A guard who was guarding the entrance shouted. "Hey! What are you doing here?" he demanded.
The girl screamed slightly, she jumped off of the ground and ran as fast as she could.
"No you don't!" A guard shouted, another two guards came into view. The girl screamed again, she began to run even faster but the two guards grabbed her.
"Let me go!" she shouted, she quickly changed her mind. "No! Please take me to Major Carter!"
The guard holding her stiffened. "How do you know Major Carter?" the guard demanded.
The girl held her breath and then said. "She's my mother."
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